GhostBusters: Afterlife (2020)

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

I saw this at a surprise screening at NYCC. It was enjoyable, had some nostalgia both happy and sad. But It was a fun movie and a nice continuation from the original. Also Paul Rudd seems to be aging backwards.

You could tell this movie was filmed 2 years ago because the cast in the movie looked nothing like the cast I saw on stage. Lol

 Fyi, there are 2 end credit scenes. 

Lucky!!!!!

Now I really can’t wait!

[Morrigan2575]

4 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

I saw this at a surprise screening at NYCC. It was enjoyable, had some nostalgia both happy and sad. But It was a fun movie and a nice continuation from the original. Also Paul Rudd seems to be aging backwards.

You could tell this movie was filmed 2 years ago because the cast in the movie looked nothing like the cast I saw on stage. Lol

 Fyi, there are 2 end credit scenes. 

Jealous and thanks for the heads up about end credit scenes

[Anela]

I thought the original was a comedy. 

[Morrigan2575]

Already bought my ticket for 11/19. 

 

 

[Spartan Girl]

“Hey, have you missed us?”

YES, PETER VENKMAN, WE HAVE!!!!!!

[Morrigan2575]

This was EVERYTHING! I laughed, I cried, I jumped!

This made for a great Ghostbusters 3. You can tell it was made by someone who loved the movies and grew up on them. 

I highly recommend.

[MadyGirl1987]

So good! Really enjoyed it. I thought it was a perfect mix of call backs and new ideas.

Was not expecting to be feeling so many feelings at the ending. I LOVED how they were able to incorporate Harold Ramis into the film. It would have felt empty with just three of them there. It was pitch perfect.

[bluvelvet]

Just saw this and I really enjoyed it. Have to say I teared up a bit at the end, cannot believe I am saying that about a Ghostbusters movie.

Seeing Egon and the original four gave me all the feels

[anna0852]

When Phoebe grabbed the proton pack at the police station, it looked a bit like McKenna was channeling her Mrs. Keyes character from Handmaid's Tale.

McKenna absolutely stole the show.

[Jediknight]

6 hours ago, bluvelvet said:

Seeing Egon and the original four gave me all the feels

"I miss you, old friend."  Ernie Hudson wasn't acting with that line.  They made sure that Egon got a proper sendoff.

I really enjoyed it.

The new Busters are good.  They all had good chemistry with each other, and distinct characters.  That last part is key, all the Busters can't be the Venkman, they've got to be distinct different characters.

[Spartan Girl]

Loved it! Yeah, some of the fan service was a little much at times but nowhere near as egregious as Rise of Skywalker. 

My mom and I cheered when the guys showed up. And what a lovely tribute to Harold. I imagine it was especially poignant for Dan and Bill.

And I love that the new busters had two girls AND Phoebe was the leader. Suck it, trolls, we still won!

Edited November 20, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[Sakura12]

I'm glad others are enjoying this movie, I haven't been able to talk about it for a month. Lol

I thought they did a great job mixing the old with the new and was a great tribute to Harold Ramis. I cried seeing them all there at the end.

McKenna Grace is great in everything I've seen her in. She did a great job playing the granddaughter. While Paul Rudd somehow looked younger in this then he did in Ant-Man. 

[Morrigan2575]

43 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

I'm glad others are enjoying this movie, I haven't been able to talk about it for a month. Lol

I have no idea how you managed. I'd have gone crazy having all that knowledge 🤣

[Browncoat]

Oh, man, this was the Ghostbusters I've been waiting for!  I loved it so much.  I loved all the Easter eggs (and I'm sure I missed some), and all the new stuff, too.  And yep, I definitely teared up at the end -- and then again at the end of the credits with the post-credits scene.  

"When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!"  Loved loved loved seeing the originals back to help the newbies.

McKenna Grace is remarkable.  

 

[Spartan Girl]

I remember back on TWOP when they did a list of the worst movies made by great actors, Bill Murray being listed twice for Garfield and Larger than Life, which was followed by a memorable comment expressing their disdain that he was willing to do crappy movies like that while still refusing to do another Ghostbusters: “Dude, just put on the suit and be Peter Venkman for a couple of months!”

Well, it took 30 years but we finally wore him down! 

[MaggieG]

Watched this last night. Loved it. It was a perfect mix of humor, drama, spookiness and nostalgia. It hit the spot. I loved Phoebe basically being a little Egon. Mckenna Grace was great, this really was her movie. I loved Podcast, he was so cute. I'm so glad they brought back the "if someone asks if you're a god, you say yes!" line. That's one of my favorite lines and I loved the "come one Ray!" reaction to it. I can't believe it's been over 35 years since the first one came out. That moment when all three showed back up in their suits, with their proton packs made me squeal. 

I also really liked the after credits scene with Bill and Sigourney. They were wearing wedding rings so I'm assuming Dana and Peter got hitched.

Full disclosure, I lost my beloved grandma last week so I wasn't even in the mood for a movie but I decided it would help to get out of the house and maybe take my mind of of everything. Plus, my husband and I love the originals. I wasn't expecting ghost Egon and full on started bawling. That moment when he grabbed the proton pack to help Phoebe, to him standing with the 3 guys, to their reactions to seeing them, to that hug with Callie at the end, to the "For Harold" in the stars, it was all perfect. It could be me being an emotional mess, but it was the perfect send off for Egon. 

[tennisgurl]

That was amazing, its exactly what I wanted and more! Finally Ghostbusters gets a worthy follow up on the big screen, they managed to give us a ton of fanservice and easter eggs while also telling its own story. I really like all of the new Ghostbusters, they have some similarities to the original team but don't feel like carbon copies. Seeing all four guys together again really hit me in the feels, from the second ghost Egon grabbed Phoebe's proton pack until the end I was in desperate need of tissues. I love how much they were able to incorporate Harold Ramis into the movie and that they gave him and Egon such an amazing send off. I really did laugh, cry, and cheer, I loved it. 

I love that Ray is Podcast's one subscriber, that sounds so right. "It really finds its voice in episode forty six." 

[Fool to cry]

The Field of Dreams tone turned out to be a canny choice and as everyone agrees McKenna Grace is fantastic. So the lesson for the franchise to go forward making adventure movies with comedy(ala Goonies) as opposed to a full comedy. Let's face it the makers of the first movie had previously made Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes and National Lampoon's Vacation, and Ghostbusters 1984 was another movie in that vein only this time with a big budget special effects. The mature jokes went over the heads of  kids who watched it though and they mostly remember the scary moments and the camaraderie and that's what the series should center on now.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Fool to cry

[Browncoat]

After more thought, I still love it.  I even love Phoebe's horrible jokes -- my favorite is the triangulate/obtuse one she tells Gary Grooberson (who named him?).  I did not love, though, that the one kid's name is Podcast.  Even if he named himself that, I'm not a fan.  Too much like Short Round. 

One other possible nitpick -- was that whole mountain build by Ivo Shandor?  There's nothing that looks like that (or like that Badlands-looking scenery) in Oklahoma.

But those are minor quibbles.  I will happily go see this again.

[bettername2come]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:28 PM, anna0852 said:

McKenna absolutely stole the show.

She's the Meryl Streep of her generation. And seeing how young she was in this after seeing Handmaid's Tale made me realize how long this movie's been waiting to come out. Then again, Paul Rudd looked about 30, so who knows?!

This might be the only acceptable use of CGI-ing a dead person into a movie. Give the character/actor a heroic and heartfelt sendoff. 

I don't know who wore which suit, but the Stranger Things fan in me wants to believe that Finn Wolfhard wore the Zeddmore one, since Mike was adamant about not being Winston on Stranger Things. 

I enjoyed it, but I confess, it's my least favorite Ghostbusters. And I'm trying too hard to figure out the timeline of when Egon would've left his daughter. 

[MaggieG]

14 hours ago, bettername2come said:

She's the Meryl Streep of her generation. And seeing how young she was in this after seeing Handmaid's Tale made me realize how long this movie's been waiting to come out. Then again, Paul Rudd looked about 30, so who knows?!

This might be the only acceptable use of CGI-ing a dead person into a movie. Give the character/actor a heroic and heartfelt sendoff. 

I don't know who wore which suit, but the Stranger Things fan in me wants to believe that Finn Wolfhard wore the Zeddmore one, since Mike was adamant about not being Winston on Stranger Things. 

I enjoyed it, but I confess, it's my least favorite Ghostbusters. And I'm trying too hard to figure out the timeline of when Egon would've left his daughter. 

My husband and I were talking about the same thing. Carrie Coon was born in 1981 so if Callie is around the same age it could be that Egon got married and divorced before the events in the first movie. Her car had an Illinois license plate so maybe she was raised there by her mother?

[Fool to cry]

Thinking about it, if Harold Ramis hadn't died the movie would have been about Venkman's heirs since Bill Murray was the one holding out on the sequel.

[greekmom]

Finally saw it.

I really enjoyed the send off of Egon, the ending, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) character.

Things I didn't like:

NYC not being the location but I guess they've had enough destruction with the Avengers ;-)

No mention of Oscar

Dana being in the end scene. I was hoping she would pop up during the battle to help out.

The daughter Callie.  She was a major dick. I know her dad left her but seriously, she NEVER TOLD her kids who their grandfather was?

Seriously when did Egon have a wife (who we don't know who she is) and a daughter?! The timeline was a bit off.

Other than that, it was a bit slow in the beginning and they could have cast someone better for the Callie role. But the kids enjoyed it and we were singing the Ghostbusters song on the way out of the theatre and in the car.  

[foxfreakinmulder]

Watched it today, I really enjoyed it. Nothing will ever top the original but at least these kids were likable and fun to watch. It brought back a lot of memories. My 34 son loved Ghostbusters when he was little, he had all the toys and the proton pack and trap and spent the day playing Ghostbusters and trapping ghost ;-) The end was a perfect send off for a beloved character that and seeing the Ecto-1 with it's blue lights brought a lot of feels. I kick myself for not reading the form before I watched because I missed the second end credit :-(

[Katy M]

On 12/11/2019 at 2:56 PM, Browncoat said:

But it might have been nice if the main kids in this one were girls. 

2 of them were.  2 of them were boys.  I would say the main main one was the girl.

[Katy M]

I loved this.

I especially loved the Stay-Puft marshmallow men.  They were adorable and terrifying at the same time, LOL.  Loved the kids.  Loved the gunner seat, loved the really bad jokes.  

I also didn't care for Egon's daughter.  If it were just her bitterness over her father, fine.  My dad didn't desert me, so I'm not going to judge others as to how to react to that.  But, she was just kind of annoying in general.  "Don't be yourself."  She was really weird with the teacher.  Why did he like her?  

[Anela]

“Are you a god?”

”Ray.”

😂

I actually preferred the build-up, to the whole gozer thing, but it was nice seeing the others, and that was a sweet ending.  I also liked the scene the middle of the credits. 

On 12/15/2021 at 7:01 AM, Katy M said:

I loved this.

I especially loved the Stay-Puft marshmallow men.  They were adorable and terrifying at the same time, LOL.  Loved the kids.  Loved the gunner seat, loved the really bad jokes.  

I also didn't care for Egon's daughter.  If it were just her bitterness over her father, fine.  My dad didn't desert me, so I'm not going to judge others as to how to react to that.  But, she was just kind of annoying in general.  "Don't be yourself."  She was really weird with the teacher.  Why did he like her?  

The marshmallow men reminded me of gremlins.  Roasting each other with Graham crackers and chocolate, and playing in the blenders.   

[Anduin]

I finally saw this. It was good. Not stellar. But who is this movie for? If it's for big fans of the original, why spend so much time on the kids? If it's for the younger set, why the appearance of the original characters? It was trying to do two different things at once. Appeal to two vastly different audiences. Come on, pick one and stick to it.

[NotMySekrit2Tell]

But it's the thing The Force Awakens had successfully done. That gave us senior citizen versions of Leia, Han, and Luke while also introducing Rey, Poe, and Finn. There were big mistakes in the later two films of the Disney SW trilogy, but at least for box office and fan interest, the first one got it off on the right foot. It appealed to long-timers as well as younger people who hadn't been following the franchise since the '70s.  

IMO, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was trying to do a similar thing: characters of a new generation plus as many of the "classic cast" as were still around. It also was trying to take advantage of the Stranger Things phenomenon.

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, NotMySekrit2Tell said:

But it's the thing The Force Awakens had successfully done. That gave us senior citizen versions of Leia, Han, and Luke while also introducing Rey, Poe, and Finn. There were big mistakes in the later two films of the Disney SW trilogy, but at least for box office and fan interest, the first one got it off on the right foot. It appealed to long-timers as well as younger people who hadn't been following the franchise since the '70s.  

IMO, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was trying to do a similar thing: characters of a new generation plus as many of the "classic cast" as were still around. It also was trying to take advantage of the Stranger Things phenomenon.

I get you, but TFA didn't have the original three turn up to save the day at the last minute. Sure, Han and Leia helped, but then Han died in the attempt. Leia didn't join the action at all. Furthermore, their presences were established long before the finale. While I like the old ones, I think Afterlife was a little too reverential of the past.

I'm not someone who enjoys gratuitous fanservice in the first place. If you need to bring these things in to tell your story, then do so. But don't base your story on having to bring these things in.

[jewel21]

I watched this earlier today and I absolutely loved it. I loved the storyline, loved the new kids, loved seeing the original ghostbusters including Egon. And I can't forget Janine. It was more serious in tone but also had some great comedic moments. 

I've been watching McKenna Grace since she was a baby. She played one of the two Faith Newman's on "The Young and the Restless" and I always knew she would make a name for herself. In addition to acting, it appears she can also sing, as the song when the credits started to roll was apparently performed by her. 

And while Paul Rudd has never really done much for me, I really enjoyed him in this role. 

[Giuseppe]

I just watched this, and...I dunno. I basically enjoyed it, but I found some of the initial exposition and some of the reactions to realizing what was happening to be pretty clunky. Like one second Phoebe was saying she didn't believe in ghosts, and then she was just calmly all "yes i realize that" when Podcast said her grandad was a Ghostbuster and she seemed to work out pretty quickly that ghost grandad was helping her out down in the basement...like I said, the reactions just didn't ring true to me. Nobody was freaking the fuck out?

Also, I find it really hard to believe that little remote control car could keep up with Ecto 1...that thing must've been supercharged, lol. Also also, once Phoebe had Muncher caught in the stream, wouldn't it have been easier to stop the car at that point to trap him? Maybe he was pulling them along? I know, I'm overthinking, lol. It was a fun scene, though. Speaking of Muncher, he was kinda cute but I was hoping for a Slimer cameo.

And was nobody else inside that Walmart? 

Other random questions: If it was June as Lucky noted, why were they in school? Did I miss a line about a summer session? Was Ivo Shandor a ghost too? If so, how did Gozer just tear him in half like that (and why waste JK Simmons in a 2-second role)? Bokeem Woodbine also seemed shoe-horned in. I'd expect a meatier role for him.

I liked how Keymaster  Grooberson breaking Egon's set up and all the ghosts being released into town called back to the first movie when they escaped the containment chamber when the EPA idiot shut it down, but I didn't think that scene was done nearly as well as the original.  I still get goosebumps hearing "Magic" (I always called it the 'Freeze' song when I was a kid cuz I thought that's what they were saying as the scene starts) when the ghosts are cut loose in NYC. It felt so eerie in the first film. This time it was a kind of flat for me and I wanted to see more of the ghosts freaking out the residents. BTW, was the diner ghost the same as the taxi ghost from the first movie?

All that said, I did like the back half and I cheered when Ray, Winston, and Peter showed up. I cheesy smiled during that whole encounter.

In the last end-credits scene, was that flashback convo between Janine and Egon a deleted scene from the first movie? It's been a while since I've seen it, but I didn't remember any of that. And what was Winston's business that he built? I couldn't really figure out the point of that scene with him and Janine (and is she still with Louis??)

[SnarkShark]

Finally saw this.

It's good, maybe even very good, but I won't call it excellent. 

I think it was actually more of a spiritual successor to The Goonies than Ghostbusters, and that's not actually a bad thing.  

My few minor criticisms are that two cameos, Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver, were just total air-balls, total wastes of time, in fact the Sigourney one just stupidly tacked on, and the Annie one just dumbly opening up questions they don't seem to want to bother to answer.  Annie, as Janine, hooked into the reveal about Winston, and HIS part of that was clearly important, but like her appearance earlier in the film, it was never clarified why she was there.  She wasnt even an exposition device, because when she could have revealed something important to our main cast about Egon... she didn't.  When she could have showed up later in the film to nudge them in the right direction... she didn't.  Even in the scene with Winston, she wasn't actually there to say anything, just for him to say something to. 

The other criticism is the pacing of the first third to half.  I can't say any of the padding there was bad in of itself, or hard to watch, but it required some indulgence to get to what we really wanted to see. A ton of setup was required from characters who came in knowing nothing, but it could have been trimmed if Janine actually HAD been a bit of an exposition device and pushed the timeline of events up a bit. 

I dunno.  Again, these aren't huge flaws.

On 2/5/2022 at 9:50 PM, Giuseppe said:

And was nobody else inside that Walmart? 

We saw plenty of other people in the first part of the scene.  They just all magically disappeared by the second part (including employees). And all of the other cars.

 

I guess that gets added to my minor flaws list.

[SnarkShark]

On 2/5/2022 at 9:50 PM, Giuseppe said:

Other random questions: If it was June as Lucky noted, why were they in school?

Yeah, why were the two SMART younger kids in school?  Makes no sense.

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

Yeah, why were the two SMART younger kids in school?  Makes no sense.

I don't know why Podcast was in summer school, but I think Phoebe's mom just wanted to get her out of the house and make some friends.  Would have made more sense if it was some kind of day science camp, but I don't really think it's a big deal either way.

[BetterButter]